Five minutes later, the OTIOSE contingent had adjourned
to the game room. Renie surveyed the mess they had left
behind in the dining room. “So much for my big mouth,”
she said. “Now I suppose I won’t get the graphic design
consulting contract.”
“Do you still want it?” Judith asked, forcing herself not to
start clearing away the table.
“Sure,” Renie answered, heading for the kitchen. “If I
turned down jobs from all the corporate types I thought were
unethical or arrogant or even criminal, I’d go broke. As long
as their money doesn’t have pictures of Bugs Bunny on it,
I’ll take it straight to the bank.”
The kitchen, at least, looked almost clean. Judith and
Renie made toast, fixed bowls of cereal, and poured coffee.
“I guess we won’t be going to church this Sunday,” Judith
said in a wry voice.
“I guess not,” Renie agreed. “I wonder if Father Hoyle has
ever heard an excuse like ours for missing Mass?”
“You mean, ‘I didn’t attend church last Sunday because I
was trapped inside a mountain lodge during a blizzard and
possible avalanches with three dead bodies and a homicidal
maniac?’” Judith laughed, a slightly bitter sound. “As excuses
go, it’s not bad. Let’s hope Father Hoyle believes us.”
“He will,” Renie said, opening a jar of boysenberry jam.
“I’m sure he recalls a rather lethal Easter Bunny a few years
ago at Our Lady, Star of the Sea.”
“Don’t remind me,” Judith said. Given their current situation, she wasn’t in the mood to think back to the deadly
doings in her home parish. “Hey,” she burst out, knocking
the spoon out of her cereal, “let’s go exploring.”
Renie’s eyes widened. “Where? Not the third floor—I
don’t need to see any more bodies.”
“The files,” Judith said. “Somebody must have them. What
do you bet that most of these people don’t lock their doors
after they leave their rooms? We didn’t.”
“They would if they had the files,” Renie countered. “If
they haven’t destroyed them, they’d stash them somewhere
no one else would think to look.”
“Good point.” Judith was momentarily subdued. “Do you
really think they’ll talk Frank into not retiring?”
Renie narrowed her eyes. “What do you think?”
“He doesn’t sound like a man who wants to retire,” Judith
said after a brief pause. “I’ve never heard him mention a
single thing about what he plans to do. Joe’s already sending
away for information on fishing trips.”
“He should have asked Bill,” Renie said. “My husband’s
got a suitcase full of fishing brochures, not to mention cruises,
Amtrak trips, and half the hotel-casinos in Vegas.”
